


Lost Stars

by oomunhy



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Implied Kiho, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-04 18:42:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13370823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oomunhy/pseuds/oomunhy
Summary: People made mistakes all the time. It was just the matter of how they fixed it.Kihyun was trying to fix his mess. But just how many times would it take? How many times would it take for him to get things right?





	1. Close To You

The first time they really talked was in the coffee shop where Hyunwoo worked at.

It was almost Christmas and Kihyun spent the day strolling across Gangnam. He left his apartment earlier with intention to do some Christmas shopping for his boyfriend Hoseok, but he couldn’t find anything. Oh well, who he was kidding. He just didn’t want to buy anything too meaningful for his boyfriend, considering the state of their relationship right now.

Kihyun walked slowly, passing by every store without even looking. That was, until he felt a cold touch on his cheek. Looking up to the sky, he found the snowflakes starting to pour.

 _Ah, it’s a white Christmas indeed_ , he thought.

People around him started to fasten their steps to find shelter, but Kihyun chose to take his time, letting the snow crowning over his head. And before he realized, the street became emptier, and the snow began to pour more violently. Kihyun told himself not to panic as he brought his legs to pick up the pace, eyes wondering around to find a place to rest before he could go home.

His eyes stopped on a coffee shop across his street. From the dim light coming from inside, the shop looked comfortable enough to spend the rest of his day.

 

* * *

 

 

The bell above the shop’s door jingling when he stepped inside, followed by a rich voice coming from what he assumed was the kitchen. “Welcome to Stars Coffee, can you hold on for a moment?”

The person from behind the door sounded unsure, but Kihyun brushed off the feeling. He just nodded, but then realized that the employee couldn’t see him, so he replied back, “Sure, take your time!”

As he was waiting, he looked around and found himself mesmerized by the interior of the shop. There was something in the shop that reminded him of home. But before he could quite comprehend what it was, he heard a loud bang coming from the kitchen.

Looking worriedly to the door of the kitchen, Kihyun shouted, “You okay there?”

“Yeah, just –, sorry can you wait for another moment? It’s kind of an emergency here,” The employee replied.

Kihyun waited for a moment, but there came another loud bang.

“What’s going on?”

Now it was clear to Kihyun that the employee sounded like he needed some help.

“Nothing! Noth– oof! Shit! Oh my God, no – Sorry! I’ll be out right away!”

Kihyun raised an eyebrow and cleared his throat, “Do you want me to help you with whatever it is you’re doing?”

“No! No, no, no, you are a customer, please wait –”

“I’m coming in,” Kihyun cut the employee’s words short and strutted in to the kitchen.

“Oh my God, I’m sorry to –”

As the employee began his rambling apology, Kihyun found a familiar figure within the guy. It was the same guy who used to be around Hoseok before Kihyun and Hoseok became a thing. It was – “Hyunwoo-sunbaenim?”

The employee, Hyunwoo, turned his head so fast it made Kihyun grimaced at the potential of his sunbae breaking his neck. Thankfully, Hyunwoo’s neck seemed okay as his face broke into a grin, “Ah! Kihyunnie! Oh thank God it’s just you.”

“Huh?”

Hyunwoo seemed to feel like he had said something wrong as he slapped his own neck. He smiled sheepishly, “Oh, I’m sorry. You’re still a customer. Sorry, Kihyunnie, can you wait a second? I’ll just clean it up.”

It was the moment that Kihyun realized that there was a mess of pans and some unknown liquid on the floor in front of Hyunwoo. There was also a strong stinging smell that had spread around the whole kitchen. It hit his sensitive nose right away and made him immediately cover almost his entire face with his still gloved hands, only leaving the eyes visible.

“What’s this smell?” His voice was muffled under his gloves, but he hoped Hyunwoo could understand him.

“Uh, vinegar?” Hyunwoo said in uncertainty, but he began to wipe the floor. Kihyun gave him an odd look, “How does a kitchen of a coffee shop smell like vinegar?”

Hyunwoo sighed, “Trust me, it’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time,” Kihyun said, even surprising himself in process. They were barely acquaintances to each other in the first place, but Kihyun felt like he could give Hyunwoo a chance. Or maybe he just wanted to distract himself from thinking about a certain someone.

Hyunwoo sighed, but he stopped wiping and walked towards Kihyun, “What do you want to drink?”

“Sunbae, –”

“If I want to make you stay listening to the stupidest story of the year, then be my guest. But you’re getting a drink while I clean that shit up. So, coffee? Tea?”

Kihyun gave himself a careful thought, before finally asked, “Do you have hot chocolate?”

“One hot chocolate coming right up,” Hyunwoo said as he disappeared towards the counter of the coffee shop.

The fact that Hyunwoo didn’t rush him when he was weighing down his options made his stomach churn. But well, he could always blame it from the fact that he hadn’t eaten anything all day.

 

* * *

 

When Hyunwoo said he was going to make a cup of hot chocolate for Kihyun, the younger boy didn’t expect for other extra items that Hyunwoo brought him. Hyunwoo had him seated in one of the tool he brought from the counter and laid out a cup of hot chocolate, a piece of chocolate cake, and a glass of water. Hyunwoo also handed him his own coat, saying that he put too much cologne that morning and suggested that Kihyun kept the coat closer to cover the smell of vinegar.

Hyunwoo smelled like a baby, a scent that Kihyun would probably cherish for his whole life. But it felt so wrong, because he shouldn’t even like the baby scent, he should prefer a strong forest scent with a hint of flowers.

It was definitely because of the vinegar, hence why he preferred the baby scent at the moment, Kihyun’s mind said as it tried to convince himself.

“So?” Kihyun prompted as he sipped his drink. Hyunwoo looked up to him for a moment before going back to scrub the floor. The flush on his cheek looked prominent enough for Kihyun to notice.

“So, I was hungry –”

“And you wanted to eat vinegar?”

Hyunwoo glared at him.

“I did not want such thing. I was hungry and I wanted to eat something that isn’t cake, or bread, or another sweet thing that we sell. Don’t get me wrong, Jinyoung made great stuff, but I had had enough.”

“Who’s Jinyoung?”

“He’s my baker here. And he’s probably home already, considering he’s so smart and probably had predicted that the weather would turn this bad, which, by the way, makes me wonder why are you outside your house in this kind of weather,” Hyunwoo said, before stopping his work to prompt the younger to answer.

Kihyun was taken back with the sudden question, but he quickly masked it, “I – I’ll tell after you’re done with your story.”

Hyunwoo looked at him like he wasn’t convinced, almost making Kihyun squirm under his gaze. Thankfully, Hyunwoo just let out a sigh before continuing with his story, “Fine then. So, I was hungry, and I wanted to cook a rolled omelet.”

Hyunwoo’s eyes squinted at the bottle of vinegar on the table, where everything else that a person needs to cook a rolled omelet was neatly placed. Kihyun tried to put the two together and gasped, “Oh, God. Oh no, sunbae, you didn’t just –”

“It’s not my fault that the oil and the vinegar have similar packaging!” Hyunwoo said desperately.

And Kihyun’s horror face immediately turned into full blown laughter that he almost fell back from his seat. Hyunwoo only sighed, knowing that he had it coming anyway. He quickly cleaned the rest of his mess, not in the mood to make another mess before going home. Maybe he could grab take-outs from the Chinese place across his apartment.

As he put everything, he found that Kihyun still clutched his stomach in attempt to old his laughter. Hyunwoo was bemused by the sight, but exasperatedly whined to the younger, “Are you done laughing?”

Kihyun threw him a grin in return, but Hyunwoo noticed the features of his face softened. The younger asked, “Do you want me to make you something?”

“What?” Hyunwoo was taken aback by the question. But Kihyun just shrugged.

“I can cook, you know.”

“I can’t let you do that, you’re my customer,” Hyunwoo tried to convince both of them, praying to God that his voice didn’t sound so hopeful at the prospect of eating homemade food.

Kihyun let himself down from the tool and started rolling his sleeves. “And you’re hungry. Now, do you feel like an omelet or can I make something else?”

 

* * *

 

 

Hyunwoo growled in his seat as soon as he swallowed a spoonful of risotto that Kihyun just made.

“Oh, God.”

“Does is taste okay?” Kihyun asked, fidgeting his hands in the counter in front of him and biting his bottom lip as a sign of nervousness. Hyunwoo sent him a look, “Are you kidding? It tastes heavenly. Hoseok is such a lucky guy.”

At the mention of his boyfriend’s name, Kihyun’s body went rigid. Hyunwoo, who caught the instant reaction frowned and asked, “Wait, did I say something wrong? You’re not broken up, aren’t you?”

But Kihyun just gave him a smile, “Ah, no, I don’t think so.”

“You don’t think so?”

“We — we barely talked these days. And I never cooked for him, so there’s that,” Kihyun explained, trying to look like he wasn’t bothered by it. He expected Hyunwoo to ask for more explanation about his relationship with Hoseok, but the older just said his apology instead.

“Ah, sorry.”

“It’s okay, sunbae, no one knew anyway.”

“Was that the reason you’re outside the house at this kind of weather?” Hyunwoo asked again, this time his words filled with concern and worry.

“Well, initially I went out this morning to do some Christmas shopping for him. You know, I thought that maybe this Christmas we could go back to where we were. But –”

“You went out in the morning?”

Kihyun sighed, “Sunbae, that’s not the main point of my story.”

“Up until now?”

“Yes?”

Kihyun started to get a bit annoyed with the unrelated questions that Hyunwoo threw him in the middle of his story. He didn’t really enjoy being interrupted after all.

“Have you eaten?”

Oh. _Oh._

Turning his gaze down to the counter, Kihyun decided to just shake his head, making Hyunwoo looked at him like he was growing another pair of head. He shrugged, “I never ate much in general anyway, sunbae.”

To his surprise, Hyunwoo stood up from his tool and moved to stand next to Kihyun, hand holding a spoonful of his risotto in front of his face. Hyunwoo prompted, “Open your mouth.”

“Sunbae —”

“Open up, Kihyunnie,” Hyunwoo said again. Kihyun pouted before opening his mouth to eat the risotto. Somehow the grin that appeared on the elder’s face made it worth.

Kihyun didn’t voice this out loud. Maybe it was just his insecurity looking out for comfort, maybe it was nothing. He just get out of his apartment in a bad mood and it wasn’t his fault that he wanted to go back home with a warmer feeling.

It had nothing to do with Hyunwoo taking care of his dinner. Or that Hyunwoo made him another cup of hot chocolate to go when he said he wanted to go home. It was definitely not because Hyunwoo insisted to take him home with his car.

It was definitely nothing.


	2. Blank Space

It was always Hoseok who led them both since they were kids. Hoseok was the one who made him join kendo in middle school, as well as the dance crew in high school. It was inevitable that they would attend the same university, that time of their lives when Hoseok throwing a fit because they didn’t get to room together.

Hyunwoo majoring in business and Hoseok majoring in music department made their time together decreasing. They made sure to hang out together outside classes, but Hoseok said himself that it wasn’t quite the same. Hyunwoo disagreed, as he didn’t find any differences the way they spent time together now and then. He only noticed it right after they met Yoo Kihyun on their second year, as Hoseok was immediately in love with the younger man.

It used to Hoseok who dragged him out of his dorm room, taking him everywhere to explore the city. But now that Hoseok was so into Kihyun, Hyunwoo found himself staying in most of the times. He also found himself getting closer with his roommate, Seokjin, bonding over the piles of never-ending homework and projects they got from their classes.

Hyunwoo never felt close to Seokjin in the first place, both trying to find a way out of their room so they didn’t have to have awkward encounters. Hyunwoo thought maybe it was about time he stayed in instead of hanging outside the dorm like he used to do. Hoseok rarely called him out anymore anyway, and if Seokjin kept doing what they were doing, he didn’t even have to interact with the guy. However, Seokjin proved him wrong. The second day Hyunwoo decided to stay in, he found that Seokjin was already draped on their couch, switching channels back and forth with the remote in his hand. They had dinner together that night, which was a great thing because Hyunwoo hated to eat alone.

Since then, the frequencies of them eating dinner together increased, as much as the time Seokjin spent his time in their dorm room. Hyunwoo didn’t question it. It was Seokjin who mentioned it first.

“Hyunwoo-ya, did something happen?” Seokjin asked once with his full mouth.

Hyunwoo grimaced at the sight, but he only shrugged, showing that he didn’t know what the other meant. Seokjin looked back at him, “You know, you were always out day and night – sometimes you didn’t even get back, but suddenly you stayed in all the time except the time when you have class.”

“You are one to talk,” was the only answer that Hyunwoo gave. And as much as Hyunwoo disliked dodging any questions asked to him, it was the truth. It wasn’t like Seokjin was a homeboy student in general.

Seokjin sighed, now chewing his food slowly as he was trying to form words, which was something Hyunwoo didn’t expect at all. He expected Seokjin to dodge the question like Hyunwoo just did, or even told Hyunwoo to forget about it, maybe slipped on Seokjin’s mask that was decorated with a smile – Hyunwoo would never thought he could read someone as easy as he did to Seokjin, but Seokjin was pretty obvious with his expression anyway.

Instead, Seokjin told him about everything; about the past that he claimed he never told anyone, about the tragedy that led him into staying in the dorms instead of hanging out, as well as many other stories that Hyunwoo was so amazed of because it seemed like Seokjin had it stored well in his memories.

Within a month, Hyunwoo was sure he made himself a close friend. Because despite the times he spent and the secrets he shared with Seokjin, Hyunwoo didn’t dare to call him as his best friend. It felt wrong, so Hyunwoo wasn’t going to, not when Hoseok was still around.

Hyunwoo knew he would be forever grateful for Seokjin’s presence around him. The guy managed to help Hyunwoo with his homework, when his own projects were also piling up. He even cooked for them, though sometimes Hyunwoo insisted on paying for take-outs when he knew Seokjin was not in the mood for cooking. Seokjin even helped him finding a part-time job, one that wouldn’t take his focus from classes, but still paid him well.

He once told Seokjin, that if he ever started his own food business, he would definitely hire Seokjin for his skill and taste. Seokjin joked back, “Yah, it would be me who will start the business and _I_ am the one who’ll hire _you_ for your management skill!”

They brushed it off with a laugh, but at the same time it became a promise.

By the end of his junior year, with the help of both of their fathers and Seokjin’s brother, they actually made plans for their so-called business of a coffee shop. The ownership went to Seokjin’s brother, but they got to run the business as they like. Thanks to Seokjin for being social butterfly, the business went pretty well, despite the doubt and the worry their professors and friends gave them.

Now that they were in their final year, Seokjin rarely went to their shop; his final projects were coming up and took his entire time. Hyunwoo assured him that it was okay, that he could watch the shop for the time being, and even came to help the workers on busy days.

If it was another day, Hyunwoo would do it in a heartbeat, because he thought that was how much he owed Seokjin. But then again, today was not just another day. Even when he just passed one of many of his deadlines, he came to the shop, seeing as it became his safe haven other than his apartment, the one that he rented after his contract for the dorm ended.

The baker in the shop, Jinyoung, scoffed when he saw Hyunwoo coming in, “Seriously, hyung? Right after your deadline? I thought it would be a Hyunwoo-free day. I swear you are obsessed with this shop.”

Hyunwoo didn’t deny it, because that much was true.

After Jinyoung and their barista, Jimin, told him they were going to leave the shop, he spent the rest of the day in his typical day, spacing out most of the times, and sometimes dancing around in between. Before he realized, there were raining snow outside, so Hyunwoo decided to stay, even trying to cook for himself after not being able to eat lunch earlier that day.

What Hyunwoo didn’t expect was that a customer would come into the shop in the middle of his chaos after stupidly mistaken a bottle of vinegar for oil. What Hyunwoo didn’t expect was that the customer was Yoo Kihyun himself, whom Hyunwoo knew he shouldn’t blame for after the younger kind of stole his best friend. But it was in the past, so Hyunwoo tried his best to be civil with Kihyun. What Hyunwoo didn’t expect was a certain turn of moment where Kihyun cooked him dinner, followed by him feeding the younger, and even went far as taking Kihyun back home.

It was stupid, really. Hyunwoo would never, ever, think that Kihyun was adorable or attractive. He should not. He couldn’t betray Hoseok’s trust on him. Nope, not a chance. Except the way the younger grinned to Hyunwoo when they arrived at Kihyun’s apartment complex was blinding.

“Thank you for today, sunbaenim.”

“It’s alright. Rest well, Kihyunnie.”

Hyunwoo was utterly fucked.

**Author's Note:**

> How do you spell 'omelet' correctly??


End file.
